Chapter 1740: Ice Shadow (Part 2)
The appearance of the Jing Lei Realm King had already pushed the Bing Huang God Sect to the brink of doom... not to mention a Fan King descending from the heavens!
Qianye Zixiao did not intentionally release the oppressive majesty of the Fan Di God Realm, but from the elders to the disciples, everyone in the Bing Huang God Sect felt their bodies turn stiff and cold, unable to breathe.
The gap in power and realm was too enormous, and this sense of terror could not be overcome by willpower alone.
"Sect Master..." Everyone looked toward Mu Bingyun.
Although Qianye Zixiao's demeanor was sincere and his tone gentle to the point of being almost disarming, they all knew that every word he spoke was something no one in the Bing Huang God Sect could refuse.
"You are only 'inviting' me alone, correct?" Mu Bingyun said.
Projections from the Zhou Tian Realm could be seen throughout the Yin Xue Realm—the tragic state of Zhou Tian and the terrifying visage of the demon people were shocking to the eyes and soul. How could Mu Bingyun not understand what this invitation from the Fan Di God Realm was for?
*When the time comes, use me to restrain Yun Che?*
*Hah... Yun Che's feelings for the Yin Xue Realm are all concentrated on my sister. You overestimate my position in his eyes too much.*
But of course, she would not voice these thoughts. Facing a Fan King descending from the heavens, only by making herself sufficiently important could she fully protect the sect.
"Of course." Qianye Zixiao smiled. "Ice Cloud Realm King, rest assured. Our king and I have no ill intentions whatsoever. Our king repeatedly instructed me to invite the Ice Cloud Realm King back. Please, Ice Cloud Realm King, do *not* make things difficult for me."
His face still carried a gentle smile, but his gaze casually swept over the Bing Huang God Sect behind her. The words "do not" carried a thinly veiled warning and threat.
"Very well."
Without hesitation, Mu Bingyun lightly nodded. "As a mere mid-level Realm King, to receive an invitation from the Fan Di God Realm is an immense honor. How could I possibly have a reason to refuse?"
"Hehe," Qianye Zixiao chuckled. "The Ice Cloud Realm King is indeed as sharp and intelligent as they say. Then... please."
He shifted his body, and a silver mysterious ark over a hundred zhang in length appeared amidst the snowfield. Within the ark were several isolation profound formations engraved to conceal aura to a great extent.
"Sect Master..." The elders and palace masters of the Bing Huang God Sect looked at Mu Bingyun, their eyes trembling and their hearts filled with grief.
They all understood perfectly well that Mu Bingyun's departure almost certainly meant she would never return. But they could not stop it, nor could they resist it.
Mu Bingyun did not leave immediately. Instead, she gently pushed her snow-white hand, and the Snow Princess Sword descended with a chill light, landing in Mu Huanzhi's grasp.
"Huanzhi," she said softly. "After I leave, if I am long absent from the realm, you shall succeed me as Sect Master. Nurture Feixue and Hanyan well—they are both destined to have brilliant futures."
Holding the Snow Princess Sword with both hands, Mu Huanzhi closed his aged eyes and spoke with difficulty: "Yes... Huanzhi will obey the Sect Master's command."
Handing over the Binghuang inscription jade—which symbolized the dignity of the Sect Master and could open the Minghan Heavenly Lake—along with an ice-blue space ring to Mu Huanzhi, Mu Bingyun turned around and stepped onto that silver mysterious ark with unparalleled calm.
As the isolation profound formations on the ark illuminated, Mu Bingyun's figure and aura vanished completely.
Qianye Zixiao smiled and turned his head, his gaze passing lightly over the crowd like a tyrant looking down upon ants. His figure dissipated like mist... Then the mysterious ark rose, carrying Mu Bingyun away, disappearing into the vast horizon in an instant.
The barrier of the Bing Huang God Sect slowly repaired, but the entire sect fell into a long, deathly silence.
With a heavy heart, Mu Huanzhi arrived at the Binghuang Sacred Hall. He wanted to pay respects to the former Sect Master, to pray for her blessing that Mu Bingyun would return safely... But just as he prepared to present the Snow Princess Sword, his aged eyes suddenly widened, and he froze in place.
The Snow Princess Sword had vanished without a trace, silent and invisible!
---
The silver mysterious ark quickly flew out of the Yin Xue Realm and entered the vast starry domain.
Mu Bingyun stood at the front of the ark, her jade-like face calm, showing almost no panic. She was not at all surprised by the arrival of this moment.
Back then, with Mu Xuanyin's departure, her already ice-like heart had become even more sealed.
Qianye Zixiao walked over, his face still bearing that calm, all-controlling smile: "That Jing Lei Realm King saw me and was like a mouse that had lost its courage. But you, a mere mid-level Realm King, are this composed. Such boldness forces one to regard you highly. I suppose... it's only fitting that you are the sister of the Xuan Yin Realm King."
Hearing Qianye Zixiao mention Mu Xuanyin, Mu Bingyun's gaze turned icy cold for a moment before dissipating. She said indifferently: "A dignified Fan King personally coming to invite a mere mid-level Realm King. Such a grand effort—aren't you afraid of demeaning your status, and even making a wasted trip?"
Qianye Zixiao smiled and said: "The demon people of the Northern Domain are all like madmen, yet they absolutely avoid touching the Yin Xue Realm. Moreover, Yun Che was apparently brought to the Eastern Divine Region from the lower realm by the Ice Cloud Realm King. These two points alone are sufficient."
Mu Bingyun: "..."
"At the right moment, any friend can become an enemy, and vice versa. This has always been the guiding principle of our Fan Di God Realm. Also..." Qianye Zixiao's gaze darkened slightly. "I advise the Ice Cloud Realm King to treasure your own life dearly. If anything happens to you... who will protect the Yin Xue Realm?"
He was warning Mu Bingyun not to entertain thoughts of self-destruction.
But... in truth, in Mu Bingyun's heart, the Yun Che who had returned like a demon god, filled with hatred and annihilating realms with a flick of his finger, had clearly extinguished all past emotions and attachments amidst extreme pain and hatred.
Using her to restrain Yun Che... was merely wishful thinking on the part of the Fan Di God Realm!
Neither Qianye Zixiao nor Mu Bingyun noticed at all that not far behind them, a faint shadow was following. Her figure merged perfectly with the dim starry space, and even a powerful Tenth Fan King failed to detect her existence.
Chi Wuyue watched the silver mysterious ark from afar, her crescent brows deeply furrowed.
After all, she did not possess the ability to conceal her shadow, and her best skill—darkness concealment—was somewhat diminished in the Eastern Divine Region. This distance was the furthest she could ensure she wouldn't be detected. Going even a step closer would increase the risk of being discovered.
It would be easy for her to thwart Qianye Zixiao, but this Tenth Fan King was clearly extremely cautious. Mu Bingyun was only an Eighth-level Divine Lord, utterly no threat to him, yet he stood within ten steps of her, and his aura suppression never left her—clearly not allowing any possible oversight.
Forcing an attack might very well put Mu Bingyun in danger.
As her brows tightened, her gaze suddenly flickered with intense agitation.
*Wait...*
*This aura...*
*Co... could it be...*
Her profound aura and gaze became unusually flustered, and her movements slowed slightly. But her decisiveness remained unaffected. The dark light condensed on her lightly raised hand, and her trembling, enchanting eyes shimmered with a seductive yet icy demonic light.
Just then, just as Qianye Zixiao was speaking unhurriedly to Mu Bingyun, an ice-blue cold light suddenly stabbed out from the space before him.
No warning whatsoever, not the slightest fluctuation of aura, and the distance was only a mere three zhang—a distance effectively meaningless to a Fan King...
This cold light emerged completely out of thin air, as if shooting forth from a spatial rift.
It was a sword of flawless ice white, shimmering with a blue glow. The moment it pierced through the void, its speed surpassed any meteor in the world.
Even though Mu Bingyun was only an Eighth-level Divine Lord, Qianye Zixiao had never let down his guard against her. But no matter what, he would never have anticipated a physical attack from her.
Completely caught off guard, and at such close range, Qianye Zixiao's pupils contracted instantly. But his body and profound force could not react in time. Even his protective profound energy only managed to stir the faintest trace before the sudden icy radiance pierced straight through his heart, penetrating his body.
An indescribably terrifying cold force—enough to make even a Fan King lose his soul—surged into his body the moment the icy radiance pierced through. It tyrannically sealed his bones, organs, meridians, blood, and the profound energy he was just beginning to mobilize.
And in his extremely contracted pupils, he saw flowing light-blue ice hair... and a pair of ice-blue eyes that seemed to embody all the coldness in the world.
The contracting pupils suddenly dilated to the utmost, for he saw the most unbelievable scene in the world.
He was a Fan King of the Fan Di God Realm, a powerful Ninth-level Divine Master. Even if caught completely off guard, who could escape his spiritual perception?
Yet, before this cold light shot out from a mere three zhang away, he had sensed absolutely no figure, no aura, no trace whatsoever.
And this person... how could she possibly be...
The next moment after Qianye Zixiao was pierced through by the sword, a black silk ribbon, thick with dark light, shot through the void and gently brushed against his half-frozen body.
*Boom!*
There was no explosion of dark force. The black light on the ribbon, like countless independent malevolent spirits, wildly surged into his body the moment it touched him.
The soul of a Fan King—how powerful it was.
But with his heart suddenly pierced, half his body frozen, and his mind in unprecedented shock and confusion, he was struck again by Chi Wuyue's demonic soul assault. He had almost no resistance. His vision went pitch black, and then his consciousness sank into endless darkness.
*Bang!*
The ice crystals shattered, and Qianye Zixiao's body flew sideways amid a cloud of icy dust, crashing down far away, motionless.
An unexpected resistance halted the mysterious ark's flight. Chi Wuyue descended slowly, watching from afar the figure in blue attire with icy hair, holding a snow-white sword. Powerful, yet intensely complex emotions surged within her heart.
Mu Bingyun seemed not to notice Chi Wuyue's arrival at all. She stared blankly ahead, her vision blurring, her soul trembling violently, her consciousness in chaos, as if she had suddenly fallen into an illusory dream.
The sword in her hand was the Snow Princess Sword. In Mu Bingyun's hands, it could only half-unleash its divine radiance, but between her fingers, it blazed with an endless celestial light of cold might.
Her sudden emergence from the void was the unique Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick of the Bing Huang God Sect, a technique mastered by only two people.
And her back, her aura... they could only appear in the memories that made her think of tears.
"Sis... ter..."
She murmured, her lips trembling, her vision completely blurred by tears: "Is... it... you..."
Four years ago, she had personally witnessed Mu Xuanyin's lifeless, ice-cold body sink into the Minghan Heavenly Lake. Over the years, every so often, she would go to the shore of the Minghan Lake to visit her and speak many words to her.
But in this world that was clearly reality, how could such an illusion appear...
Amid her soft calls, she slowly raised her hand, wanting to step closer. But as soon as she moved, the world spun around her, and she collapsed into a daze...
Then, her body fell into a mass of cold softness, accompanied by that warmth and peace of mind that had long been engraved into her soul, yet had been lost for so long.
She closed her eyes, burying her entire snow-white face deeply into that abundant softness. The icy jade fragrance filled her senses and her entire world... Even if it were a dream, she wished to sink into it forever, never to awaken again.